The Government Accountability Board said Monday 392,912 ballots had been requested in local clerks' offices and 152,148 ballots have been requested by mail and other methods. Ballots must be post-marked by Election Day and received in the municipal clerk's office by 4 p.m. on Friday to count.

Requests for absentee ballots could be higher than the numbers the board released. All local clerks are required to track military and overseas absentee ballots, but only about 350 municipalities track some or all absentee ballots in addition to military and overseas requests.

Voters in 2008 cast 633,610 absentee ballots, 21 percent of the 2.99 million total ballots cast.